Israel charges Dead Sea hotel worker with spying for Iran

“The contract was concluded according to proper procedures and has no connection with the management of Iraq’s communications network,” the ministry said. It added that operations and data systems remain under the authority of ministry staff.

The statement followed an article in The Atlantic that described the Muhandis General Company as an Iraqi version of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The magazine said Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had created the firm and awarded it government contracts, including for fiber-optic maintenance, giving Iran-aligned militias new influence inside Iraq’s economy. The Atlantic also reported that Washington sanctioned the company in October, calling it a front for terrorist groups and corruption.

According to The Atlantic, the Popular Mobilization Forces—an umbrella for mostly Shi’ite militias formed in 2014 to help the army fight Islamic State—have gained wider power under al-Sudani, who has embraced and enriched them through public-works contracts. The report said recent deals with the Muhandis company give the militias something they have long sought: a foothold in Iraq’s data network.

The communications ministry rejected what it called “targeted attacks” against its work and said its projects were being carried out transparently and in line with Iraqi law.

President Donald Trump’s approach now prioritizes regional peace and prosperity over democracy promotion, Tulsi Gabbard told officials at the Manama Dialogue.

Washington’s emphasis, she said, had moved from political engineering to achieving practical outcomes, including the ceasefire that halted Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza and the end of Israel’s 12-day war on Iran after US-led airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The United States held five rounds of talks with Tehran earlier this year over its disputed nuclear program, under a 60-day ultimatum set by President Donald Trump.

When no deal was reached by the 61st day, June 13, Israel launched a surprise military campaign, culminating in US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear sites in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow.

“For decades, our foreign policy has been trapped in a counterproductive and endless cycle of regime change or nation building,” Gabbard said. “It was a one-size-fits-all approach, of toppling regimes, trying to impose our system of governance on others, intervene in conflicts that were barely understood and walk away with more enemies than allies.”

The policy reversal, she said, reflected lessons from past wars that had “cost trillions, taken countless lives and in many cases created greater security threats.”

Gabbard acknowledged that challenges remain, citing fragile conditions in Gaza and renewed activity at Iranian nuclear sites, recently noted by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. “The road ahead will not be simple or easy but the president is very committed down this road,” she added.

“The Iranian regime has an interest in a continuous conflict with Israel,” said Palestinian political analyst Khalil Sayegh. “The Palestinians have been used as pawns in this game very cynically."

US President Donald Trump’s administration is advancing a 21-point postwar framework for Gaza, unveiled earlier this month. The plan rules out any political or military future for Hamas — the Iranian-backed group that has ruled the enclave since 2007 — and proposes Arab-led reconstruction under international supervision.

The plan has been described by regional analysts as a potential turning point — one that could further erode Iran’s leverage after the fall of its key Arab ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the weakening of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Sayegh's father died during the war due to what he described as medical neglect due to Israeli attacks on health facilities and lack of access to medical care. His sister too lost her life while en route to Egypt on a so-called safe route designated by Israel where he says were barred from entering.

Despite his loss, he co-founded the Agora Foundation for Middle East Peace, an initiative that aims to promote a lasting peace, equal rights and prosperity for both Palestinians and Israelis.

Tehran’s support for Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Sayegh said, has long played into the hands of Israeli hardliners.

“Since day one, the extremists in the region have been feeding each other,” he said. “The Israeli right-wing extremists are on the record saying that Hamas is good for us and therefore we have to support them and fund them. The existence of the Iranian regime has been weaponized and used by Benjamin Netanyahu for so long.”

Hamza Howidy, also a Gaza-born activist who was twice imprisoned by Hamas before fleeing the enclave in 2023, said resentment toward Iran is widespread among ordinary Gazans.

“There is a huge, huge hate for the Iranian regime inside Gaza because those people see the Iranian regime as number one, the financer and the reason why Hamas is still there,” he said.

Howidy recalled how Gazans reacted after the death of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May 2024, which led to the election of Masoud Pezeshkian.

“When the Hamas affiliated people tried to make a poster for him inside Gaza during the war, the civilians themselves decided to go to take down this poster,” he said.

A shifting regional context

Both Sayegh and Howidy said Israeli claims of an expanding Iranian role in the West Bank are often exaggerated.

Sayegh said Iran’s ability to move weapons or influence groups in the West Bank has sharply diminished. “They keep trying from what I know, but I don’t think they will succeed,” he said. “They lost Syria — that was their biggest front to claim they’re coming to liberate Palestine.”

Iran’s role in sustaining Palestinian divisions has undermined every path toward peace, Sayegh told Iran International's podcast Eye for Iran.

“Iran has maintained the Palestinian division between the West Bank and Gaza,” Sayegh said. “That has been used by the Israeli regime to argue that a two-state solution is not possible because of the Iranian funding to Hamas.”

Iran’s shrinking reach

Both men said Iran’s influence is diminishing as its proxy network weakens across the region — a further blow to Tehran’s ambitions after two years of devastating war which followed Hamas-led attacks into Israel on October 7, 2023.

The assault killed 1,200 Israelis and brought over 200 others back into Gaza as captives. Israel's devastating incursion into the enclave killed at least 67,000 people.

“I think (Iran) will be weakened tremendously because of the incidents that happened during the past two years,” Howidy said. “I’m talking about the end of the Syrian regime, the notorious Bashar al-Assad and his regime, and then to the defeat or deterrence of Hezbollah in Lebanon.”

The recent recognition of a Palestinian state by Canada, France, Italy, and Britain, Sayegh said, would remove Tehran’s main ideological justification for interference.

“When a Palestinian state emerges," he said, "the Iranian regime would lose its biggest ideological weapon that they are using—the grievances of the Palestinian people and its weaponization to justify its neo-imperialism in the region and to justify its repression of the Iranian people."

You can watch the full episode of Eye for Iran on Youtube or listen on any podcast platform of your choosing.

The intelligence shows Hezbollah is restocking rockets, antitank missiles and artillery through seaports and smuggling routes that still operate in parts of Syria, the people said. Some of the new weapons are made in Lebanon by Hezbollah itself, one of the people said.

The rearmament defies the terms of the cease-fire agreement that required Lebanon to begin disarming Hezbollah south of the Litani River. Instead, Hezbollah has resisted, saying its weapons are essential to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Israel, which has provided intelligence to help Lebanese forces disarm Hezbollah and carried out more than 1,000 strikes against the group since last November, is growing impatient, the people said. One person familiar with the matter said the Israeli government was angered to learn the issue had shifted from disarmament to rearmament only months after the truce began.

US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said in October that Israel could act unilaterally if Beirut delays further, warning of grave consequences. Lebanese leaders have appealed for patience through American and Arab intermediaries and signaled willingness to expand coordination with Israel despite the two states remaining technically at war.

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  Iran helped Hezbollah rebuild command structure in Lebanon - Le Figaro

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  Hezbollah warns disarmament push can lead to war, thanks Iran for support

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a recent television interview that attempts to disarm the group should be resisted but that it seeks to avoid another war. He said Hezbollah has not retaliated to Israeli strikes since the truce began.

The cease-fire followed a two-month Israeli campaign last year, triggered when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel after Hamas’s 2023 attack. Thousands of airstrikes crippled the group’s infrastructure and killed many of its commanders.

Hezbollah deepens ties in Latin America as Iran faces strain

While Hezbollah rebuilds its military power at home, the group is also reinforcing its global funding base.

US experts told senators last week that Hezbollah is expanding its financial and criminal networks in Latin America, particularly in Venezuela, as Iran struggles under economic pressure. Matthew Levitt, a terrorism analyst, said Hezbollah has long relied on diaspora and illicit trade networks to raise money when funding from Tehran slows.

Lawmakers warned that Venezuela has become a hub for Hezbollah’s drug and finance operations. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said the group is “one of Iran’s tools to destabilize and terrorize,” urging stronger action to cut its financial lifelines. Others called on Latin American governments to follow Argentina, Colombia, and Paraguay in designating Hezbollah as a terrorist group.

Iran's arsenal was badly depleted by Israeli attacks and retaliatory salvos during a 12-day war in June, but Iran may be seeking to replenish its stocks despite European-triggered UN sanctions which resumed last month and aim to bar arms transfers.

But sodium perchlorate appears to fall beyond the ban, even as Russian and Iran opposed the renewed curbs and argue against any fresh hostilities in the region.

Ten to twelve shipments of the material began arriving from China in Iran on September 29, the European intelligence sources cited by CNN said, and contain around 2,000 tons of the material which can be turned into solid propellant for mid-range conventional missiles.

Iran has rejected reported US demands that it curb the range of its missiles to achieve any peace deal, calling the requests a non-starter which curbs its defense.

Several of the vessels are already subject to US sanctions for earlier transfers, the sources added, but there was no indication of Chinese state involvement.

Beijing reaction

Reached for comment by CNN, China's foreign ministry said it was not familiar with the situation but that Beijing has “consistently implemented export controls on dual-use items in accordance with its international obligations and domestic laws and regulations.”

It further called for the lingering standoff between Iran and the West over Tehran's disputed nuclear program to be resolved through dialogue, calling the latest sanctions “unconstructive” and a “serious setback”.

Unofficial accounts pointed to sodium perchlorate and other compounds imported from China for Iran’s missile program as the cause of an April 26 blast at the Bandar Abbas port which killed 57 people. Authorities have denied any military link.